Women's March on Washington, Part 1

Central Indiana, 1/20/2017

So here we are, on the road. Christi, Mandy, and I are all in Christi's van, driving east on I-70 through the slight drizzle. It's a typical mid-winter rainy January morning in the lower Midwest: mid-40s, brown, and flat. It seems appropriate for the day and our mood.

However, we're also excited. You know, we make an interesting group, the three of us. Mandy is a 22 year old recent college graduate from Arkansas, Christi is a 31 year old homeschool mother of 3 from Rhode Island, and I am an Autistic, chronically ill historian/telecom project manager from Ohio. What we all have in common, is that we were all homeschooled and raised as girls in patriarchal, fundamentalist Christian families, that all at least flirted with fundamentalist cults. Mine was the only family that every fully joined a fundamentalist Christian cult (a story told in other places). But we were all raised to be meek and subservient girls, always to be under the authority of a father or a husband. To be the mother of a quiver full of children. To not follow our own dreams, ideas, wishes, or even beliefs. We were, essentially, raised to be clones. We were taught that we were put here on earth to serve the men in our lives and raise children. We were also taught extreme modesty to the point of objectification.

We have all broken away from that. We all believe in the equality of women. We are human beings. Therefore, our rights should be equal. And that includes our rights to not have other people harass or assault us, because of our bodies. It includes our rights to follow our own path. It includes our rights to earn a living and shape policy and just...live. And the incoming president is a direct threat to these rights. For us, for our children, for all women and children in this country, especially those who are also not white. Who, like me, are disabled. For those who are LGBTQ+. For those who are not from Christian backgrounds. All three of us have experienced repression due to our gender that fits better with past eras of American history than the time in which we were raised. And for us to be traveling to march for women's rights in our nation's capitol, that's something we couldn't even have dreamed of doing in the past.

For me, there's another element to it, though. Because of a combination of circumstances and health/neurological/mental health issues, this is the first time in my life I'm able to support myself. As I was on the plane last night, I realized something: This is the first time in my life I have paid for my own plane ticket. I've simply never had the money before. I've always depended on someone else- usually my parents- to pay for my ticket. But not this time. When I heard about the march, I asked Christi to come with me, and I bought a plane ticket on the spot, even emptying out my paltry savings to do so. Money well spent, in my opinion. I'm paying my own share of the condo we're renting too, as well as gas. This whole trip, I'm paying for. Me. Myself. Not with help from my parents, not with the use of Christmas or birthday money, me. Granted, we were able to do it cheap, but it's still a huge deal for me.

I'll stop there for now, I've been a little rambly. But more posts will come, and I hope you will follow the saga on here, as we sojourn to our nation's capitol to make a bold stand for what is right and just.